J-O-B

Hey, I got a job! Just found out yesterday afternoon that I will be a Researcher/Analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists working for their Scientific Integrity Program. So it's not just any job, but one I'm really psyched about.

For those who don't know them, UCS is a great organization that works to promote sensible, science-based solutions to environmental issues like global warming, clean energy, fuel-efficient vehicles, sustainable agriculture and nuclear non-proliferation. Their scientific integrity gig is a fairly new program designed to counter the recent wave of political interference in scientific results arising from certain quarters of the government (ahem). Since it is potentially such a wide-ranging topic, everything from climate change to endangered species to "abstinence-only" education to HIV/AIDS policy, I'm sure I'll have my hands full learning a ton of new stuff. Which is pretty awesome if you think about it. This week they're sending me to a 3 day crash-course seminar on how the government works.

Mainly, I feel really lucky to have found a job advocating for positive change in our world that also lets me use my scientific training. OK, I'm also relieved not to have to continue with the hideous process of actually looking for a job. Ugh. But for right now, this definitely looks like one version of my ideal job, so we'll see how it goes...